What do Osama Bin Laden, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Mel Gibson, Aljazeera, John F. Kerry, and Condoleezza Rice have in common?

They were all named to the Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential list. Senator Kerry was called "a unifier for the democratic party". President Bush was referred to as a "radical gambler." What?

Mel Gibson the bane of Hollywood only a couple of months ago, because he had the audacity to produce and direct a film about Jesus Christ that was true to the Bible, was on the list as well. I'll bet the Hollywood moguls are upset with that one! Money talks in this business.

What I don't understand is our fixation on "top whatever lists" that are released by publications on a regular schedule. They must sell magazines?
Who votes on these lists? Are these people acutally employees of the magazine, sitting in a little conference room casting their ballots? Is there any science to this? I wonder if Rick Warren's name (the author of the best selling Purpose Driven Life) is mentioned on this list? I wonder if my name made it on this list? Certainly, I would stack up well against some of these folks!

Gotta go and buy a copy of Time and check it out....
With fingers crossed,
DpD